1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pallet on which a load is loaded and then transported or stored and a load packaging method for loading and packaging a load loaded on the pallet.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional pallet used for the transport and storage etc. of goods is normally a general purpose item made from wood or metal and formed without consideration given to the shape of the load to be loaded on the pallet.
The transport and storage of photosensitive printing plates will be described as an example. When a large quantity of photosensitive printing plates are packaged (for example, 250xcx9c1500 plates per one package) and transported, the photosensitive printing plates which are manufactured in a factory are placed in stacks of a predetermined number and intermediately packaged. The intermediately packaged photosensitive printing plates are then stacked on general use pallets made of wood or metal and externally packaged, and are then transported or stored. In some cases, the photosensitive printing plates are also stacked directly on the pallets and then externally packaged before being transported or stored.
However, general use pallets made of wood or metal are expensive due to the material costs and the labor required for their manufacture. Moreover, these pallets are heavy and difficult to handle during transport or storage. Furthermore, disposal of the wood or metal forming the pallet is difficult and pallets are sometimes left to accumulate at their destination after being transported.
In addition, because general use pallets are used which are made without consideration given to the shape of the load, positioning and fastening of the load when loading the pallets have been difficult.
On the other hand, when a small quantity of photosensitive printing plates are packaged (for example, 10xcx9c100 plates per package) and transported, units of stacked and intermediately packaged photosensitive printing plates are further placed in corrugated fiberboard boxes, which are then packaged and transported etc.
However, if corrugated fiberboard boxes are used, it is necessary to perform the time-consuming task of opening each corrugated fiberboard box one by one when the photosensitive printing plates are to be used. Moreover, because the empty corrugated fiberboard boxes end up as waste material at their destination, a great deal of waste materials are generated particularly after a large quantity of photosensitive printing plates have been transported.
In consideration of the above, the aim of the present invention is to provide a pallet which is inexpensive and easy to handle during transport or storage and a load packaging method in which a load can be easily loaded on this pallet and packaged.
The first aspect of the present invention is a pallet comprising: a loading member made from paper onto which a load is loaded; a leg member made from paper which is fastened to the loading member and, as well as supporting the loading member when a load is loaded on the loading member, forms an insert body receiving member into which is inserted an insert body used during transportation; and a base member made from paper which is fixed to the opposite side of the leg member to the loading member.
Accordingly, when a load has been loaded onto the loading member, the insert body is inserted into the insert body receiving member which is formed by the leg member, and the pallet and load are able to be transported. The insert body named here may be any member provided that the pallet becomes transportable by inserting the insert body into the insert body receiving member. An example of the insert body is the forks of a fork lift, however, the insert body is not limited to this and other examples include an elongated bar which may be inserted as an insert body into the insert body receiving member and the portion of the bar which protrudes from the pallet lifted and pushed sideways, thus allowing the pallet and load to be transported.
Because the loading member, the leg member, and the base member which form the pallet are all made from paper, the pallet is lighter than comparable pallets made from metal or resin, and handling the pallets during transport or storage is easier. Furthermore, used pallets are easily disposed of at their destination. Naturally, when the pallets are still capable of being reused (i.e. when their strength and shape as pallets are preserved), they may be reused. Moreover, even when they are not capable of being reused, because the pallets are made from paper, they can be easily recycled. In addition, by manufacturing the pallets out of paper, the manufacturing costs can be kept down.
The paper which is used as the material for the loading member, the leg member, and the base member, is not particularly limited, and any material which has a certain strength and can maintain the shape of the pallet and support the weight of the load is acceptable. For example, general corrugated fiberboard, honeycomb structure materials made from paper, cardboard, Kraft paper and the like may be used. Moreover, the general corrugated fiberboard, honeycomb structure materials made from paper, cardboard, Kraft paper and the like may be laminated to produce an even stronger material which can also be used. Each of the loading member, the leg member, and the base member may also be made out of different types of paper.
Because the leg member is fastened to the loading member, manufacturing of the pallet is simplified. There is no particular limit as to the number of leg members. For example, a plurality of leg members may be provided with predetermined gaps formed therebetween which gaps act as insert body receiving members. Thus insert body receiving members can be provided by a simple structure.
When a plurality of leg members are provided, the plurality of leg members are fixed from two sides by the loading member and the base member and are thus able to more securely support the loading member. Moreover, when a plurality of pallets each with a load loaded thereon are stacked on top of each other, the base plate portion directly above the top surface of a load makes surface contact with the top surface of the load so that the weight on the load is distributed and the load is not damaged or deformed. This enables handling to be simplified.
In the present invention, the loading member is preferably constructed by superposing more sheets of paper than are used to construct the base.
This causes the strength of the loading member to be greater than that of the base member. Accordingly, when a pallet with a load loaded thereon is lifted or moved, deformation of the loading member and deformation or shifting of the load can be prevented.
In the present invention, the loading member is preferably constructed by superposing a plurality of sheets of paper in such a manner that the grain of at least one sheet of the paper forming the loading member intersects the direction of the grain of the other sheets of paper forming the loading member.
By making the direction of the grain of the sheets of paper forming the loading member intersect in this way, unevenness in the strength of the loading member depending on the direction can be reduced. Accordingly, when, for example, the insert body is inserted for transporting, a fixed level of strength can be maintained no matter which direction the insert body is inserted from. Thus, deformation of the loading member and deformation or shifting of the load can be prevented.
In the present invention, the leg member is preferably hollow.
Accordingly, the leg member is light in weight which simplifies handling during transporting and storage. Moreover, because the actual amount of paper needed to construct the leg member is reduced, the leg member can be formed at a lower cost allowing the pallet as a whole to be manufactured cheaply.
Note that the leg member is not particularly limited to a hollow leg member. For example, a hollow leg portion may be formed by stacking a plurality of sheets of paper side on to each other to form a side wall of a leg member and fixing a plurality of the side walls in a predetermined layout. However, a single sheet of paper may be bent and rolled up in a coil to form a cylindrical shape (a round cylinder, four sided cylinder, or three sided cylinder). By forming the leg member from a single sheet of paper in this way, the number of parts is reduced and the manufacturing of the leg is simplified.
In the present invention, the loading member is preferably provided with an extending portion which extends outwards further than the load which is loaded onto the loading member.
Because of this extending portion, even if another member strikes against the pallet during transport or storage, this other member strikes against the extending portion and not against the load, thus allowing the load to be protected and simplifying handling.
In the present invention, the loading member preferably has a step portion provided with a peripheral portion which is flush with the side surfaces of the load when a load is loaded on the loading member.
Accordingly, when a load is loaded onto the step portion, the side surfaces of the load are flush with the peripheral portion of the step portion. An intermediate packaging material is placed in surface contact with the side surfaces of the load and the peripheral portion of the step portion thus intermediately packaging the load and the step portion as a single body. This allows the intermediate packaging material to be fixed by the step portion and the load to then be fixed by the intermediate packaging material. Because this structure prevents the load from shifting the position on the loading member, handling during transporting and storage are simplified.
In the present invention, the extending portion is preferably formed so as to bend the loading member towards the load at a position further from the outer edge portion of the load loaded onto the loading member than the thickness of the intermediate packaging material with which the load is intermediately packaged.
In this pallet, the bend of the extending portion may be made in advance before the load is loaded on the loading member or may be made after the load has been loaded and packaged with the intermediate packaging material.
If the bend is made in advance, the load and intermediate packaging can be easily positioned on the loading member.
If the bend is made after the intermediate packaging has been applied, because it is sufficient if the bend is made along the outer edge of the load (or intermediate packaging), the task is simplified. It is also possible to apply the intermediate packaging, then the external packaging, then to bend the extending member from outside the external packaging.
In whichever case, the bent portion after being bent contacts the load and the load is unable to shift position on the loading member, therefore, handling during transporting and storage is simplified.
Note that the position where the loading member is bent is not limited provided it is at a position outside the thickness of the intermediate packaging material. For example, the bend may be made at a position outside the combined thickness of the intermediate packaging material and the external packaging material.
In the present invention, a housing portion is preferably formed in the loading member which houses a transporting member for transporting the load, and is able to allow the transporting member to be removed when the load has been loaded on the loading member by the transporting member.
The transporting member mentioned here may be any member provided that it is able to transport a load before that load is loaded on a loading member. Examples include the forks of a forklift and an accumulating arm which accumulates a load on the load production line and transports it.
When the load is supported by the transporting member, transported to the loading member and placed on the loading member, the transporting member is housed in the housing portion. Therefore, the transporting member does not get caught between the loading member and the load. Once the load is loaded on the loading member, the transporting member can be removed from the housing portion thus simplifying the task of loading the load onto the loading member.
The second aspect of the present invention is a load packaging method in which a load is loaded onto a loading member of a pallet and is intermediately packaged with intermediate packaging material comprising the following steps: a load loading step for loading the load onto the loading member; an intermediate packaging step for intermediately packaging the top surface and side surfaces of the load loaded onto the loading member with the intermediate packaging material; and a fastening step for fastening the intermediate packaging material with which the load was intermediately packaged in the intermediate packaging step to the loading member.
In this way, after the load has been loaded on the loading member, the load can be easily intermediately packaged simply by intermediately packaging the load with the intermediate packaging material and fastening this intermediate packaging material to the loading member. There is no particular limitation as to the intermediate packaging material, however, by using paper with excellent moisture proof properties or paper with excellent light proof properties, the load can be given general protection from moisture and light.
There is no particular limitation either as to the fastening means for fastening the intermediate packaging material to the loading member and adhesive tape or bond, for example, may be used. However, using adhesive tape makes the adhering task easier.
In the present invention, before the step to load a load on a loading member, a laying step is preferably performed to lay intermediate packaging material, which is substantially the same shape as the loading member, on the loading member.
In this way, by laying intermediate packaging material on the loading member, intermediate packaging material is disposed on the bottom surface of the load as well. Therefore, when moisture proof and light proof paper are used for the intermediate packaging material, the ability to protect the load from moisture and light can be increased.
The second aspect of the present invention is a load packaging method for loading a load onto a loading member of a pallet according to the first aspect of the present invention and packaging the load preferably comprising: a laying step for laying a lower intermediate packaging material formed to a larger size than the loading member on the loading member; a lower intermediate packaging step for loading a load onto the lower intermediate packaging material laid in the laying step and for bending upwards portions of the lower intermediate packaging material which extend out beyond the load thus intermediately packaging the bottom surface and a portion of or all of the side surfaces of the load; and a fastening step for intermediately packaging the top surface and side surfaces of the load loaded onto the loading member with an upper intermediate packaging material and fastening the upper intermediate packaging material to the lower intermediate packaging material.
In this way, by laying the lower intermediate packaging material on the loading member, intermediate packaging material is disposed on the bottom surface and side surfaces of the load. Then in the fastening step, by intermediately packaging the top surface and side surfaces of the load with upper intermediate packaging material and fastening this to the lower intermediate packaging material, the external surfaces of the load can be completely intermediately packaged. Therefore, when light proof and water proof paper is used for the intermediate packaging, the ability to protect the load from moisture and light can be increased.
In the load packaging method of the second aspect of the present invention using a pallet of the first aspect of the present invention, preferably, in the step to load the load on the loading member, the side surfaces of the load and the side portions of the step are made flush, and in the intermediate packaging step, the intermediate packaging material is placed in surface contact with both the side surfaces of the load and the side portions of the step.
Accordingly, when the intermediate packaging material is placed in surface contact with the side surfaces of the load and the side portions of the step when both the side surfaces of the load and the side portions of the step are flush with each other, the load and the step can be intermediately packaged as one body. Because the intermediate packaging material is fixed by the step and the load is further fixed by the intermediate packaging material, there is no shifting in the position of the load on the loading member and handling during transport and storage are simplified.
The present invention is a load packaging method using the pallet of the first aspect of the present invention, wherein, preferably, in the laying step, lower intermediate packaging material is laid while the extending portion is not bent, and in the lower intermediate packaging step, the lower intermediate packaging material and the extending portion are bent upwards.
Namely, because the extending portion is bent after the load has been packaged with the intermediate packaging material, the extending portion does not become a hindrance when the load is loaded and the task of loading is simplified.
Note that, in the lower intermediate packaging step, the lower intermediate packaging material may be bent first and the extending portion bent after that. However, the lower intermediate packaging material and the extending portion may be bent as one material. If the two are bent as one, in this way, the number of steps is decreased and the task of bending is simplified.